'Big Brother 25's Reilly Smedley Reveals Her Biggest Regret from Her HoH Reign
Big Brother’s house is open once more! Every week, Parade.com’s Mike Bloom will be bringing you interviews with this season's houseguests as they get evicted from the game.
Coming into the Big Brother house, bartender Reilly Smedley thought she had the perfect cocktail of personality, physicality, and brains to take it all. Being the first Head of Household, she aimed for the Old Fashioned move of securing a majority alliance. Unfortunately, when information got out about it, the others felt the group was far from cosmopolitan, leaving them very (whiskey) sour. When Reilly's main target Hisam Goueli was the next HoH, her game was suddenly on the rocks. He took a straight-up approach to her, to the point of telling the entire house to vote her out in his veto speech. And despite a possible flip in the works, it ended up being last call for Reilly.
The Big Brother 25 premiere was Reilly's birthday, and she got several big gifts in an alliance right off the bat, and becoming the first HoH. She immediately clicked with Jag Bains, and the two decided to form a carefully constructed layered alliance of three, then five, then eight. Reilly was given a unique task as HoH, having to take down two of the Night 1 nominees. Despite being in an early alliance with Kirsten Elwin and making a bond with Felicia Cannon, she ultimately chose Jared Fields and Cory Wurtenberger. With Reilly targeting Kirsten for playing too hard, too fast, it was shaping up to be a simple week. But it all started to crumble when Jared revealed the alliance to his mom Cirie Fields. When the information spread, a counteralliance was formed, framing Reilly as the ringleader of the other side.
By the end of her HoH reign, Reilly was worried about her standing in the game. And in retrospect, she had every right to be. She had spoken with her alliance about targeting Hisam Goueli and Izzy Gleicher. So when the former was the next HoH, her position got turned as upside-down as the "Nether Region." Hisam took the shot at Reilly, and true to his play style of honesty and integrity, he let her know that was the case every step of the way. It culminated in a speech during the veto meeting where he blamed her for splitting the house prematurely, and asked the house to help him vote her out. Hisam's monologue incensed the house, most of all his own allies, and Cirie and Izzy actually put in the work to flip the house and keep Reilly. Things looked bright for Reilly for about 24 hours. Unfortunately for her, the majority changed their mind when they realized how much support she had from the other side. In the end, the house respected Hisam's wishes, sending her home unanimously.
Now out of the house, Reilly talks with Parade.com about her reaction to Hisam's speech, Cameron revealing he had outed their alliance to the other side, and her advice for future first HoH's.
Related: Everything to Know About Big Brother 25
So I have to start with Hisam’s veto speech, which caused quite a stir in the house to the point where his alliance was looking to flip the game on him. Can you elaborate on what he said, and what your reaction was to being called out as a unanimous target in front of the house?
I think that he's a very honest guy. And he's going to do whatever he has to do to further his game. And, in the moment, he felt like he needed to make that announcement. And I respect whatever he had to do with that.
We heard on the feeds that the speech went on for longer than was shown. Did he say anything else besides that you had prematurely split the house and that everyone should vote you out?
That was pretty much the gist of what he was trying to say.
Let's talk about this accusation that was levied at you for being the one to "divide the house." What do you think about that assessment, especially knowing that you and Jag created the alliance together in that first week?
Winning that first HoH puts a target on your back. Everyone looks to you, especially in a full house of people. So I think that it was pretty easy to pin the house split on me. It was definitely not a sole decision. I can't think for 17 people, but I think that that was Hisam's opinion. And he's totally entitled to his own view of what happened.
Hisam talked about the two sides that were created during your HoH reign. And, this past week, despite being coached by people like Cirie and Cory as to who to talk to and hang out with, you still ended up gravitating back to Matt, Jag, Blue, etc. Why did you choose to do that, even if it showed people the allies you had at your back?
Yeah, that was a really tough situation. Matt, Jag, and Blue are my buddies. And I was definitely feeling unsafe this week. So I think naturally we gravitate towards the people that make us feel most comfortable. But I am a woman of my word. I did mean what I said to Izzy, Cirie, and Felicia. I actually promised Cirie and Felicia from the very beginning that I would protect them. And I meant the same when I said that to Izzy. So I think that if I did stay in the house, I would have kept my word. Obviously, there's a lot of people in the house and a lot of twists and turns. But ultimately, I intended on keeping that word.
Let's talk about your fellow nominee in Cameron. It's an interesting relationship, as he commonly referred to you as a daughter. During your HoH reign, Cameron revealed to you that he had spilled everything about your alliance to the other side, saying that you needed to calm down. What was your reaction to that?
I absolutely adore Cameron. He really has been there for me in moments of weakness. And I know that I'll be really great friends with him after the show. That was definitely a tough pill to swallow when he told me about what he had been telling the other side about our alliance. In the moment, I just had to kind of hear him out. I wish that maybe we had all talked about it beforehand. I think that ultimately played a hand in why I'm sitting here. But he did what he had to do. Everyone's gonna do what they have to do. So I love him nonetheless. And I hope that he goes really far in the game.
Your HoH was eventful, to say the least. You made several decisions like who to remove as a nominee and choosing for the Veto not to be used. Additionally, Kirsten told me that your alliance was telling her they were putting the votes together to keep her minutes before her eviction. What would you say is your biggest regret of your HoH reign?
I think voicing my concerns about Hisam. I think that I am somebody who works off my intuition. My intuition was telling me that might be a problem in the future. And I voiced it out loud, and word totally got to him. One thing about me is that I'm very vocal and my emotions and my feelings. Sometimes I wish I could just zip it. [Laughs.] But I think that that's one thing I would regret. Also, I think one thing I would regret would be creating such a firm alliance so quickly. [It's one thing] if it was smaller. But an eight-person alliance, that's half the house. And there is no way we're going about that in secrecy. [Laughs.]
Give me your rapid-fire thoughts on each of the houseguests. Starting with America.
Hilarious.
Blue.
Talented.
Bowie Jane.
Sweet.
Cameron.
Heart.
Cirie.
Intelligent.
Cory.
Hilarious.
Felicia.
Pure.
Hisam.
Honest.
Izzy.
Intelligent.
Jag.
Best friend.
Jared.
Strategic.
Matt.
Pure.
Mecole.
Hilarious. [Laughs.]
And finally, Red.
[Pauses.] Talented. [Laughs.]
This is the third season in a row where the first HoH has been evicted prejury. What advice do you have for any houseguests who win the first HoH in the future?
I would tell them to keep their cool. It's definitely a position where with great power comes great responsibility and great paranoia. I think that everyone looks to that first HoH [as] that moment where you have to rip the band-aid off, and how you handle that is really important. So try to keep your cool. Keep your mouth shut. Do what you have to do. And be sure that you explain yourself. [Laughs.]
Next, check out our interview with Kirsten Elwin, who was evicted during Big Brother 25 Week 1.